Euro 2022: A guide to the Austria team

Euro 2022 is taking place at 10 venues across England between 6-31 July. Austria are in Group A, along with England, Norway and Northern Ireland. Senta Wintner, a sport journalist for Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse, assesses their chances this summer.

How will Austria do?

I expect it will be a tough fight with Norway for second place to advance to the quarter-finals.

Against England, with the crowd at Old Trafford, it will be very, very hard. Even a draw would be a victory for Austria. Against Northern Ireland, it has to be a win. It will probably all come down to the match with Norway to see whether they progress.

Norway have bigger names than Austria, like Ada Hegerberg and Caroline Graham Hansen, but if they get on a good run and they are in good spirits, Austria could win it and I think that would get them second place.

Austria have a very united team even they don't have a very big pool of players. The central players are more or less the same since 2017. They have grown a lot, and they have included some new, very talented players. And the spirit in the camp is good.

Because the first Euros were such a success for Austria - 2017 was the first time they had qualified and they made it to the semi-finals - the expectation and attention is very big.

Who is the manager?

Irene Fuhrmann is a former midfielder who used to play for USC Landhaus Wien

Irene Fuhrmann is the first woman in this job, so her appointment came with a lot of attention which she had to get used to at first. But she also knew the players very well because she had already been working with them as the team's assistant coach. Fuhrmann she was part of her country's coaching unit at Euro 2017.

She learnt how to deal with the players, has experience of the last Euros, and the players talk very positively about her. I think it works very well.

The team likes to press a lot, and the play is very intense, but it's also pretty flexible and versatile, especially competing against smaller teams. They have different formations and systems which they can switch between fluently.

At the last Euros it was mostly about very good defending, not so much about offensive play, but there has been real progress in this within the last two years.

Against big teams like England, it still has to be defence first and then to try to make the most out of little chances. But overall, I would say Austria have advanced to a more active style of play.

Who is the star player?

Hoffenheim's Nicole Billa played against both Barcelona and Arsenal in the Champions League this season

Striker Nicole Billa has performed really well - in the 2020-21 season she won the golden boot in Germany and last season she performed well in the Champions League with Hoffenheim.

Until 2017 she wasn't playing as the main striker for Austria, but as an attacking midfielder. She didn't score much back then, but she is now number two in Austria's all-time goalscoring list - and she is only 26.

Then there is Viktoria Schnaderbeck, who was released by Arsenal at the end of the season. She is the captain and I would say the most important player of the team because she was a big figure in 2017.

She has had some injuries so she hasn't played that much for her club or the national team, but she is the definitely the key figure. If she is fit and playing, she is at the centre organising everything. You can see the difference when she is on the pitch.

Who is the rising star?

One is right-back Laura Wienroither, 23, who moved to Arsenal in the winter. She hasn't played that much but she has improved a lot physically, which was her intention with the move. She is very good at tackling and on the attack, she crosses the ball very well and is a very intense opponent.

Another rising star would be Julia Hickelsberger, 22 - who has been playing in the Austrian league. She tore a knee ligament so missed one year of action, but made her comeback in spring. She is very fast, very good at dribbling and driving towards goal. She just moved to Hoffenheim this summer and is definitely one to watch.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Isabella Kresche (St Polten), Jasmin Pal (FC Koln), Manuela Zinsberger (Arsenal).

Defenders: Celina Degen (FC Koln), Marina Georgieva (Sand), Verena Hanshaw (Eintracht Frankfurt), Katharina Naschenweng (Hoffenheim), Katharina Schiechtl (Werder Bremen), Viktoria Schnaderbeck (unattached), Carina Wenninger (Roma), Laura Wienroither (Arsenal).

Midfielders: Barbara Dunst (Eintracht Frankfurt), Jasmin Eder (St. Polten), Laura Feiersinger (Eintracht Frankfurt), Julia Hickelsberger (Hoffenheim), Marie-Therese Hobinger (Zurich), Maria Plattner (Turbine Potsdam), Sarah Puntigam (FC Koln), Sarah Zadrazil (Bayern Munich).

Forwards: Nicole Billa (Hoffenheim), Stefanie Enzinger (St Polten), Lisa Kolb (Freiburg), Lisa Makas (Austria Wien).